Many repair centres may look to use second-hand or non-genuine parts to repair a vehicle in order to keep costs low. However, in some cases, this may not be safe or ethical. Ultimately, any vehicle returning to the road following an accident or other damage should be both safe and road-worthy.

Here at CARS, we recommend only using new and genuine parts, specific to your vehicle’s make and model. Before a vehicle is released for sale, it goes through rigorous testing to establish its safety rating. Only using new and genuine parts, and repairing the vehicle in line with manufacturer repair methods, will ensure it maintains this safety rating and respond accordingly if involved in any future incidents.

It’s worth noting that when you purchase insurance, your vehicle is allocated to an insurance group which is based on the cost of repairing your vehicle using new and genuine parts. However, there are many insurance companies that will allow their preferred (approved) repairers to use second-hand and/or non-genuine parts.

Ultimately, the use of non-original equipment could impair the quality of repair and the safety of the vehicle. The aim of any high-quality vehicle body repair centre should be to reinstate the vehicle to the standard in which it left the factory.